One of the biggest manga publishers turned a fantasy anime into a farming sim RPG and it's reviewing shockingly well
18.10.2023 - 21:17
/ gamesradar.com
/ Spike Chunsoft
/ And It
When I first saw Slow Living with Princess on Steam, I thought the title sounded rather roughly translated. It also sounded an awful lot like one of the trope-y, light novel-derived fantasy shows that have dominated the anime industry's output for years now. Turns out I was right on the money: it's a farming sim based on the trope-y, light novel-derived anime Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside. The kicker here is that, like its source material, it seems to be surprisingly good despite its silly name.
Slow Living with Princess is a hybrid farming and dating sim RPG starring Gideon Ragnason, who – as you may have deduced – was banished from the party of the hero who's on a quest to save this particular fantasy world. The game actually launched in early access back in 2021 but only fully released this week on October 15, apparently after some heavy polish and new content, including more dungeons, items, furnishings, and minigames like drake racing.
According to the Steam page, it was jointly developed by Kadokawa, one of the biggest names in manga and anime. Kadokawa also has many video games under its belt as the co-dev on RPG Maker, plus the owner of Elden Ring maker FromSoftware and Danganronpa dev Spike Chunsoft. The game's development credits additionally list the aptly named studio Tsukurite, which approximately translates to "to make," and only has this one game listed on Steam.
It's been 2 years since we have started the early access. Through ups and downs, we always appreciated all the feedbacks and support from the community! So this is it. This is the last patch note to end our long, hard-working, and full of joy ealry accesshttps://t.co/q7tceF8AhfOctober 16, 2023
As Gideon, now named Red under a new identity, you'll build up your rural homestead by tending and expanding the vegetable fields, exploring nearby dungeons, working as an apothecary, and befriending the local townsfolk.
The dating side of this sim comes in with your relationship with Rit, a princess who also helps you out around the farm. She is, in other words, the princess you are slowly living with. Compared to dating-infused farming sims like Stardew Valley, Slow Living with Princess apparently bets it all on one romance partner to preserve the original storyline.
Anime games are a dime-a-dozen, so apart from its somewhat obscure but apparently quietly successful source material, Slow Living with Princess didn't initially grab me. What did wow me was the overwhelmingly positive response it's gotten over the years. The game's sitting at a 90% positive score on Steam after 473 reviews, which is somewhat modest but still orders of magnitude better than the average anime game's